1987 Mazda B2000 - The Lost Maz

Back From The Dead

Kevin Johnson could’ve finished this truck years ago. It could’ve been all the rage on MySpace. It could’ve ran in our magazine (probably in other truck rags too), and been history by now. But, it wasn’t. Not even close.

This Mazda has been in Kevin’s family tree since he was singing the high school blues. Back then it was a just a means to get to and from class. It slowly progressed into the realm of custom, but none of it happened until after graduation. Kevin recalls, “it was ‘bagged, painted blaze red, and had tweed interior. I got to know Brian Jendro, and we talked about bodydropping it. This was back in ’98. I wanted to be lower than most bodydropped trucks without destroying the bodyline, and it came out laying flat from wheel opening to wheel opening.” For a while, that was the truck’s last hurrah—the last occasion for celebration. Soon after that in ’01, Kevin stepped away from the truck as well as everything else that looked like it.

Making progress, let alone finishing the truck, was nowhere on Kevin’s radar of concern. 5 years passed before he even laid a hand on it again, and even that time of contact was nothing more than brief. “The truck sat in my dad’s shop for another long while. I just didn’t care too much about the truck during this time. My friend Ben Wood gave me a suicide door kit and convinced me it wasn’t hard to do. He was right, it only took 3 weeks out of on-and-off tinkering, but it was enough to get me back working on the truck again. Those few weeks took place over another 5-year stall period, I just wasn’t motivated.”

Motivation did finally come about a year later. A few close friends rallied around the truck and got things back into motion. Kevin and his pals Ben and Eric Jackson started up on the bodywork, and Alex Anderson scouted for parts. These four dudes smashed on the truck for nearly two more years until it was done.

“The worst feeling throughout the whole time building the truck was thinking it would never be completed, and if it ever was, that I wouldn’t be happy with the outcome.” Well, it’s done, and although he hasn’t said it outright, you can tell he’s in love with the results. “Most of the time between ’98 and ’12, the truck was off the road, and my father stored it and paid the insurance on it the entire time. If I could start over, I would’ve stayed on the project and completed it years ago.”